Language of the Half Term

The children at Diamond Wood Community Academy come from a range of cultures and backgrounds. As a multi-cultural school it is vital that we prepare children to grow up to make a positive contribution to society.

At Diamond Wood Community Academy, there are children and adults who speak many different languages. The languages spoken include Czech, English, Hungarian, Punjabi, Polish, Romanian and Russian. We also have children who use a sign language called Makaton. There are many reasons we should know about each other’s languages, including the following:

To give bilingual children the opportunity to demonstrate their language skills
To enhance the status of bilingual children
To show respect for each other’s languages and cultures
To give parents the chance to be actively involved in their children's learning
To broaden the language skills of all the children and staff.

Each half term a new language will be introduced. Teachers will put up a display in their classrooms and they will do short, fun activities to teach several words from the language. We have introduced the children to the new languages and displays have been put up in classrooms and in the corridor by main reception.

During Spring 2 and Summer 1 our language of focus is...ROMANIAN!

We launched our Language of the Half term during a special 'Romanian Day' in school on Friday 1st March. Mrs Idle who leads on this initiative in school shared an exciting assembly to introduce the children to the language of Romanian. The children in all year groups will then immersed into a day of experiences and activities designed to support their learning. Take a look below to see what each year group did.

DID YOU KNOW?

Romanian is a language that people speak in a country called Romania. Romania is a beautiful country in Europe. Just like how we speak English in the United Kingdom, people in Romania speak Romanian. It is their official language.

Romanian is written using the same alphabet as English, which means they use the same letters like A, B, C, and so on. But, they also have a few extra letters that are unique to their language, like "ă", "â", "î", "ș", and "ț".

Romanian comes from the same language family as other languages like Italian, Spanish, French, and Portuguese. This means that some words in Romanian may sound similar to words in these other languages.

Learning Romanian can be a lot of fun! It's like opening a door to a whole new world. Here are a few reasons why you might want to learn Romanian:

If you ever visit Romania, it would be really helpful to know some Romanian words and phrases. It can make it easier to communicate and understand the people there.
Learning Romanian can help you make new friends. When you know another language, you can talk to more people and learn about their culture and traditions. Lots of our pupils and families speak Romanian here at Diamond Wood Community Academy.
It's always good to learn new things! When you learn a different language, it exercises your brain and helps you become more knowledgeable.
Learning Romanian can be a super fun challenge. You can learn new words, practice pronunciation, and even try writing in Romanian.

Here are a few activities you can try to explore the Romanian language:

Learn Romanian words: Ask a teacher or use online resources to learn some simple Romanian words like "hello" (which is "bună" in Romanian), "thank you" (which is "mulțumesc"), and "goodbye" (which is "la revedere"). Practise saying these words aloud!
Romanian alphabet: Discover the unique letters in the Romanian alphabet and try writing them. You can find some examples in books or online. Can you find anything around you that looks similar to these letters?
Traditional Romanian music: Listen to some traditional Romanian music and see if you can recognise any words. Music can be a great way to learn new language sounds and phrases!

Remember, learning a language takes time and practice. Have fun exploring the Romanian language and embrace the joy of learning something new!

Challenge...

Can you find some of the countries Romanian is spoken in on the map below?

To download these posters click here.

Helping at Home

Let's Remember!

In Autumn 1 our Language of the Half Term was English.

We launched our Language of the Half term during a special 'English Day' in school on Friday 15th September. Mrs Idle who leads on this initiative in school shared an exciting assembly to introduce the children to the language of English. The children in all year groups were then immersed into a whole day of experiences and activities designed to support their learning. Take a look below to see what each year group did.

To download the overview click here.

To download this poster click here.

Let's Remember!

In Autumn 2 our Language of the Half Term was Makaton.

We launched our Language of the Half term during a special 'Makaton Day' in school on Friday 17th November. Mrs Idle who leads on this initiative in school shared an exciting assembly to introduce the children to the language of Makaton. The children in all year groups were then immersed into a whole day of experiences and activities designed to support their learning. Take a look below to see what each year group did.

To download the overview click here.

Our friends from Fairfield school came to school to teach us some Makaton during a special assembly.

Watch the video below to learn the signs for the Rainbow Song.

Click on the images in the gallery below to learn some Makaton.

Click here to access the CBeebies website and find out more about Makaton. Watch the video.

Let's Remember!

In Spring 1 our Language of the Half Term was PUNJABI.

Punjabi is a fascinating language spoken by people in the northern part of India and in Pakistan. It has a beautiful script, which is a special way of writing Punjabi words. Just like we have our own alphabets in English, Punjabi has its own set of letters too!

Script: Punjabi is written in a unique script called Gurmukhi. It looks different from the English letters we are used to. Imagine writing with magical symbols!
Sounds: Punjabi has some special sounds that are not found in English. For example, it has a sound that is a bit like a "t" and a "h" mixed together! Try saying "th" and then make it softer and longer. Can you do it?
Greetings: Just like we say "hello" to greet someone, Punjabi speakers say "Sat Sri Akal" or "namaste" to say hello. It's always nice to learn how to greet people in different languages!
Numbers: Punjabi numbers are very similar to English numbers. So if you learn how to count in Punjabi, you can impress your friends with your counting skills in another language!
Colours: In Punjabi, they have different names for colours. For example, the word for "red" is "lal" and the word for "blue" is "nila". Learning colours in Punjabi could be a fun way to explore different shades!

We launched our Language of the Half term during a special 'Punjabi Day' in school on Friday 19th November. Mrs Idle who leads on this initiative in school shared an exciting assembly to introduce the children to the language of Punjabi. The children in all year groups were then immersed into a whole day of experiences and activities designed to support their learning. Take a look below to see what the children in each year group did.

To download the overview click here.